[Theme of the Month] Tell us about your year in dramas

December means it’s almost the end of the year, and that means that we’ll soon be taking a look back at the year that was and figuring out what we thought about it.

This time, we’re inviting you all to join the staff in the year-end reviews by extending the year-end series to December’s Theme of the Month series. So fire up your computers and let us know what 2017 was like for you and your drama-watching experience.

Tell us about your year in dramas.

We’d love to hear lots of different angles and approaches to this retrospective look at 2017, so we’re asking you to go beyond merely telling us what dramas you liked. (Otherwise, we’d have fifty lists of the same thing!)

Find a theme to act as the framework for your review, whether it’s about plot points, or tropes, or character types, or the reactions you had to the dramas of the past year.

To submit:

Email your submissions to [email protected] If you have a registered Dramabeans account, include your handle so we can link to it.

Include at least 1 image, though more is preferred.

Suggested length: Between 500 and 1,000 words.

Deadline: We will post these on a rolling basis, so we’re taking submissions now. We will cut off accepting submissions on December 24. If you miss this month, join us for a new theme next month!

December 1, 2017 at 3:58 PM

UNREGISTERED

I feel like I didn't watch enough dramas this year to even talk about my year in dramas. I only finished 4 shows from 2017 plus about 6 older dramas (most of which I started in 2016) so my year was pretty boring lol.

December 1, 2017 at 5:53 PM

UNREGISTERED

Hm...I didn't watch too much dramas this year, i think this is the first year for me where I haven't been so preoccupied with dramas but i will say the dramas I watched this year thay made an me impact on are slice of life youth dramas (fight my way,etc) dramas and i plan on watching more when given the chance

December 1, 2017 at 11:05 PM

UNREGISTERED

I think the dramas I didn't pay attention to prior to their air times ended up being the ones I watched and liked. Chicago Typewriter was definitely my favorite. I also liked Strongest Deliveryman, Because This Is Our First Life, and Defendant. I've hoped that there would be more dramas that grabbed my attention/kept me interested.

December 2, 2017 at 2:31 AM

UNREGISTERED

If possible instead of sending posts which clearly you can't post everyone's writing as i read above, why don't you make it open for everyone to write their thoughts as a comments like What we're watching and Open Thread, that way we can read more beanies thoughts.

December 2, 2017 at 5:30 AM

UNREGISTERED

I think we should all be grateful that Dramabeans is providing an avenue for us fans/viewers to articulate our insights and express our reactions. However, (I know this is easier said than done), we should not take it personally if our submissions are not being published. If you ask any writer out there, I believe most of them have more rejected articles compared to published articles. Instead of being demotivated and demoralized, these writers keep on churning articles that will hopefully meet the standards of the editorial board and be approved for publishing.

Anyway, let us continue to maintain good vibes in our Dramabeans community. Looking forward to the beanies' submissions. 😊😊😊

December 2, 2017 at 10:50 AM

UNREGISTERED

Thing is, those writers weren't invited to write for those boards and papers and knew that they could be rejected.

Beanies here are invited and called upon to write (for free) and after maybe an hour or even 5 hours of writing, if they're passionate, after eagerly sending all those submissions, nothing happens. Like, at all. In the middle of this month, there was an absolute blank in posts uploaded for Theme of the Month. It hard not to feel like you were taken advantage of.

This place is not like Times or Newsweek or even Washington Post. If the writers spent all those times writing a piece that won't be shown on this blog, why not publish it on another then? Heck, publishing on a forum might get even more responses than a blank.

There are so many more platforms and avenues for writers to express their drama views and insights, not just here. I think they have a right to be upset and express it. As if they get a response anyway. Ek Ladhki Thi wrote 5. Oh my gosh. All the time spent.

December 2, 2017 at 11:08 AM

UNREGISTERED

This year, I had my first drama slump and found comfort in American shows. In addition, I feel like this year the dramas I watched had great beginnings but the endings sucked (Mystery Queen, The Best Hit, Lookout) and I watched wayyy too many thrillers.

December 2, 2017 at 6:49 PM

December 2, 2017 at 12:34 PM

UNREGISTERED

I've watched only a few dramas this whole year and it feels like I keep watching less and less each year... Though I'm still at newbie level in kdramas. Thing is I don't get sucked in by what's "hot" (eg Goblin) and so I stick to what shows promise to my unique tastes... Though I did get a jolt with one drama where the heroine fell ill and dropped out early in the drama... The shock got to me deep and it took a while to bounce back and put faith in starting the drama again. Didn't know I could be that affected by a drama...

December 3, 2017 at 7:02 AM

UNREGISTERED

I have never been able to watch too many dramas at any given time. I usually will watch two or three at a time. Sometimes, I am interested in more, but I always try to find a way to make that number smaller. I definitely feel that my interests in dramas has waned for the most part. Like you, I'm not necessarily drawn to the popular dramas (although I did watch Goblin, and I plan on checking out Hwayugi, lol). I try to find things that are more unique. Still, I find myself more disappointed than overjoyed. In fact, I would prefer to watch more K-movies than K-dramas, if I could find legitimate places to watched fully-subbed films.

Side note, in addition to not be particularly drawn to the more popular dramas, the following things do not interest me; in fact, they often make me rolls my eyes and become disappointed, lol:
1. Gratuitous shower scenes (or any chest shots that serve no real purpose).
2. Out of place/disjointed humor/slapstick comedy/buffoonery/etc.
3. 1 year later/five years later/or insert-any-number-of-years- later in the last ten or so minutes of a show's final episode. I hate unnecessary time jumps!
4. Bug-eyed kiss scenes
5. Over-dramatized moments of skinship or kiss scenes, especially when accompanied by out-of-place ballad music (I think that there are other ways to shoot such scenes. I can think of certain Masterpiece Classic/Theater productions that shoot intimate moments with much more subtlety).
Etc. Etc! LOL

December 3, 2017 at 4:45 AM

UNREGISTERED

I agree, please DB consider revisit some old dramas' recaps that haven't been completed! Some of us cannot finish the drama because the videos no longer available. But if we read your recaps that's as good as watching the dramas.

December 4, 2017 at 1:50 AM

UNREGISTERED

I think I'm gonna try going through the list of dramas I watched this year, but honestly I didn't watch a lot. Life kinda got in the way, and I genuinely feel that 2017 lacked good dramas (but those that are great are REALLY great).